IN REVIEW: The Fine Wine Experience “Vintage Pairs” Blind Tasting Reviews in 2019 20th February 2019 25th April 2019 16th October 2019 4th December 2019 © Alexnadria Rae Cubbage THE FINE WINE EXPERIENCE | Shop A, 165-166 Connaught Road West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong Office:+852 2803 0753 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.finewineexperience.com IN REVIEW: “Vintage Pairs” Blind Tasting on 20th February 2019 Jacques Selosse Selosse – Sous Le– SousMont NV: Le Disgorgement Mont NV date:& Ambonnay 25 Jan 2012 Le Bout du Clos NV Ambonnay Le Bout du Clos NV : Disgorgement date: 15 March 2013 12.5% abv for both This pair was one of the toughest of the evening. For some, it even came across as potentially being Chablis. Nearly everyone thought the predominant grape in each was Chardonnay, and everyone thought it was vintage Champagne as opposed to non- vintage. Anselme Selosse is unique in his approach to making Champagne adopting practices that are quite a step away from the norm like only using indigenous yeast for the fermentations, no malolactic fermentation, only bâtonnage, minimizing the use of SO2, fermentation and ageing in wood barrels (with less than 20% new), leaving wines on their fine lees for extended periods of time, and keeping the dosage at a minimum. For this pair, we tasted two of Selosse’s single parcel Champagnes both of which are made primarily from Pinot Noir. He started making his single parcel range for Champagne in 2010. You can buy all six together in a collection he calls, “Lieux-dits”, and the production on these wines is quite small. With this pair we were able to compare the vineyard ‘Sous Le Mont’ from Mareuil-sur-Aÿ with ‘Le Bout du Clos’ from Ambonnay. ‘Sous Le Mont’ is an east-facing premier cru vineyard in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ located in the Vallée de la Marne of Champagne, and it’s made up of 100% Pinot Noir. It’s known for being the lightest Pinot Noir based Champagne in Selosse’s lieux-dits range. By contrast, ‘Le Bout du Clos’ is known for its power, depth and structure as described by Antonio Galloni in his review of this wine in October 2012 for www.robertparker.com. This single parcel Champagne is made from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. From this pair, we learned that we rarely taste such that we are comparing the various vineyard sites in Champagne. Most of us do Champagne tastings and dinners where we are comparing vintages, vintage Champagne to non-vintage Champagne, or late disgorged to original cork. At the end of the evening, I asked everyone to vote for their favourite wine. In this pair, the first wine, Jacques Selosse – Sous Le Mont NV, received three votes for favourite wine of the night. The second Champagne, Le Bout du Clos NV, was the second favourite wine of the night with five votes. THE FINE WINE EXPERIENCE | 85 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong P.2 Office:+852 2803 0753 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.finewineexperience.com Domaine Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura ‘Cuvée Florine’ 2014 & ‘Les Vignes de Mon Père’ 2006, both from magnum Our second pair came from the Jura, a region most had never heard of or had a wine from, so this made the pair the most challenging one of the night. The Jura is a region in eastern France located between Burgundy and Switzerland. Jean-François Ganevat trained with Jean-Marc Morey in Chassagne-Montrachet before returning to his family’s domaine in the Jura in 1998 to take over from his father. His style is a departure from the strong oxidative character found in many wines of the Jura. Like Selosse, Jean-François follows a low sulphur regimen (just a touch of sulphur at bottling), and to protect against problems during transport and oxidation of his wines he does extended lees contact. We tried two very different wines from Jean-François in this pair and both from magnum. The first is a cuvée made from 100% Chardonnay from vines planted in 1996 and grown on limestone soil. It’s named Florine after Jean-François’ daughter and is from the youngest vines on his estate. The wine is from the cool and vibrant 2014 vintage. For this wine, some of you detected tropical notes which reminded you of the New World. It’s a concentrated wine with golden delicious and green apple notes with a zippy lemony acidity and a minerally thread. The wine reminds me of Chablis from a warm vintage like 2005. Then, the second wine comes from the warm vintage of 2006 and is 100% Savagnin. These vines were planted in 1930 and are grown in soils made up of schist and marl. For this wine, many of you felt it reminded you of Chenin Blanc, so when we started discussing region many thought the Loire Valley. This wine was fuller on the palate and showed mature and developed aromas and flavours including baked apple and pear with a bit of earthy, mushroomy notes. Of the two wines, this one was the favourite of most. These wines received no votes for favourite wine of the night. Domaine Rossignol Cornu et Fils Volnay 1er Cru ‘Les Robardelles’ 2012 & 2008 This pair is from the family of one of the newest additions to the Fine Wine Experience Team, Florian Rossignol. As most of you know, he hails from Volnay, and his family’s domaine is Rossignol Cornu et Fils. Several of you have asked about his family’s wines, so I thought it would be fun to add them in our Vintage Pairs. The 1er Cru vineyard of ‘Les Robardelles’ isn’t well known, but it is well located and has a strong history. It’s situated just a few metres from ‘Les Santenots-du-Milieu’ (on the other side of the road that separates Meursault and Volnay) to the south, and ‘En Caillerets’ is just metres from touching its northwest corner. The soil in the Rossignol Cornu 1er Cru ‘Les Robardelles’ vineyard is made up of clay and limestone. It’s a combination of two parcels one where the vines are 22 years of age and one where the vines are over 60 years of age. As we tasted through these two wines, what you mentioned first was the colour of the wines as the 2008 is already beginning to show its age and has become more garnet. The 2012 was bright ruby in colour with red berry and red cherry aromas and flavours as well as notes of cranberry. It also contained aromas of thyme and was medium bodied with the tannins well integrated and leading through to a savoury finish. The 2012 received two votes for favourite wine of the night. The 2008 displayed some dried fruit aromas and flavours with more cherry notes rather then berry qualities and a hint of mint combined with earthy forest floor and a medium weight with moderate tannins. This wine received three votes for favourite wine of the night. Domaine Arnaud Lambert Cabernet Franc 2015 ‘Montée des Roches’ & ‘Clos Tue-Loup’ Next up, we journeyed to the Loire Valley and tried two Cabernet Francs from the same producer, Domaine Arnaud Lambert, and same vintage, 2015, just from two different vineyard sites - Saint Cyr en Bourg and Brézé. Arnaud’s father, Yves, founded Domaine Saint-Just in 1996, and it’s located in Saumur in the Loire Valley. Arnaud started working with his father in 2005 after earning his viticulture and oenology degree. In 2009, they also became managers of Château Brézé. They make cuvées from both terroirs - Saint Cyr en Bourg and Brézé - which are approximately 20 hectares each. Sadly, Arnaud’s father passed away in 2011, so Arnaud directs everything now. THE FINE WINE EXPERIENCE | 85 Queen’s Road West, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong P.3 Office:+852 2803 0753 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.finewineexperience.com The cuvée ‘Montée des Roches’ comes from Saint Cyr en Bourg which are the vineyards located at Domaine Saint-Just. Since terroir 2017, both the cuvées from Saint Cyr en Bourg and Brézé are under the Domaine Arnaud Lambert label. The of Saint Cyr en Bourg is east-facing with soil that is mostly clay with silt and sand on Turonian Superior limestone bedrock. Average age of these vines is 35 years old. For the cuvée ‘Clos du Tue-Loup’, the vines were planted in 1995, and the vineyard comprises 2 hectares in the famous Brézé estate. Its soil is made up of sand and limestone. The limestone soil here is quite special as there is a significant portion of tuffeau (a porous, chalky limestone). That soil along with the relatively high elevation promote a refined and minerally Cabernet Franc. As we tasted through this pair, a few of you felt ripeness to the fruit which lead you to the New World. A few others thought Bordeaux because you detected a green bell pepper note in the wines. It seemed that the warmth of the 2015 vintage in the Loire Valley fooled everyone a bit as it’s a vintage where we find Cabernet Franc getting fully ripe while still maintaining its acidity but not having the green notes we often associate with classic Cabernet Franc from the Loire. The ‘Montée des Roches’ displayed aromas of thyme, red and dark cherry and red raspberry with a minerally quality and elegance in the wine. This wine received no votes for favourite wine of the night. The ‘Clos du Tue-Loup’ was firmer and more structured with herbal notes of sage and thyme on the nose and subtle earthy aromas of mushroom and forest floor combined with dark cherry and dark berry fruit.